1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program-storage medium, and more particularly, is suitably applied to a notebook type personal computer apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, in operating systems such as Windows 98 (trademark) manufactured by Microsoft Corporation of the United States, that are used in personal computers (called xe2x80x9ccomputersxe2x80x9d below), by displaying on a desk top a task bar on which are displayed icons corresponding to individual application software items that have an active window, those task bar icons are provided to the user as visual clues just like buttons.
Here, active window means the window that is currently subject to manipulation while a plurality of windows are displayed.
Technology relating to the use of this kind of task bar has been disclosed in detail in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-255066, and will be described below by citing that specification. As well as giving the user information concerning the active window as a visual clue by means of an icon, the task bar can be used to switch display of the active window.
Also, the task bar is provided with a start menu button that enables user access to a menu for control of the program launcher (activation), document opening, system settings, and so forth.
As an example, the manipulation of the start menu button on the task bar will be described below in case of a computer apparatus provided with peripheral devices such as a mouse, keyboard, and video display, and a Central Processing Unit (CPU) that performs prescribed processing in accordance with the operating system.
The start menu button operates as a central location for access by the user to programs, documents, files, system settings, help information, and so forth, and functions as means for opening a start menu in which many menu items are listed for access.
This start menu contains a plurality of menu items such as xe2x80x9cPrograms,xe2x80x9d xe2x80x9cSearch,xe2x80x9d xe2x80x9cSettings,xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cHelp,xe2x80x9d or the like. Of these, the menu item xe2x80x9cProgramsxe2x80x9d allows access from the start menu to a hierarchically-displayed program menu, and that program menu contains a user-selectable plurality of menu items corresponding to a plurality of application programs and program groups.
Now, in a computer apparatus with such a configuration, it is necessary to repeat complex manipulations before the user selects and starts the desired application program from the start menu button on the task bar.
That is to say, the user first specifies the start menu button on the task bar with the mouse cursor and clicks the left mouse button, whereupon the CPU displays the start menu. The user then specifies the xe2x80x9cProgramxe2x80x9d menu item in the start menu with the mouse cursor and clicks the left mouse button, whereupon the CPU displays the program menu, which is a sub-menu of the start menu.
Next, the user specifies the desired application program menu item in the program menu with the mouse cursor and clicks the left mouse button, whereupon the CPU starts the application program corresponding to the specified menu item.
If the user specifies an application program group at this time, a sub-menu corresponding to that application program group is displayed by the CPU, requiring further specification with the mouse cursor and clicking of the left mouse button.
As the menus are hierarchically structured in this way, the user must frequently repeat specification with the mouse cursor and clicking of the left mouse button before the desired application program is started.
Since the menu items displayed in the menus here do not include visual clues indicating to the user that a menu is hierarchically structured, there is a problem in that it is difficult for the user to know whether a lower-level sub-menu exists before actually selecting a menu item, and the menu structure cannot easily be recognized.
Furthermore, in a computer apparatus with such a configuration, there are restrictions on the size of the display areas for displaying menu items displayed in the start menu, and menu items of a program menu hierarchically displayed from the start menu, and there is also a limit on the number of menu item characters that can be displayed at one time.
Accordingly, there is thus a problem in that, if the character string does not fit into the display area when displaying a menu item character string, the computer apparatus cannot display the entire character string, and consequently menu item recognition becomes difficult for a user, and it is easy to make mistakes in selection.
Still further, in a computer apparatus with such a configuration, when the user""s desired menu item is selected from within a sub-menu corresponding to an application program group, and the application program corresponding to that menu item is started up, when a menu item is selected by the user, the display of the sub-menu containing that menu item is erased.
There is thus a problem in that, if the user forgets what the currently selected application program is, it is not possible to recognize what the currently selected application program is on the spot and rapidly.
Also, if the user switches the object of selection from the currently selected application program within an application program group to another application program, there is a problem of poor operability, in that a sub-menu must be displayed by again executing a series of operations from start menu selection to selection of a menu item corresponding to an application program group.
In view of the foregoing, an object of this invention is to provide an information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program storage medium with excellent user-friendliness that are capable of highly improving recognizing and operating of a menu.
The foregoing object and other objects of the invention have been achieved by the provision of an information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program storage medium, wherein, when a predetermined menu is displayed on a display screen, a display form of a menu is changed according to the attributes of said menu displayed. This enables a user to improve in recognition and operation of the menu.
Furthermore, in the present invention a prescribed menu is displayed on a display screen, and an icon indicating for hierarchically-structured menu items within that displayed menu that they are hierarchically structured is displayed together with the menu items on the display screen, thereby enabling the user easily to recognize, at the point in time at which a menu item is displayed, whether that menu item is hierarchically structured.
Still further, in the present invention a prescribed menu is displayed on a display screen, and the character string indicating a menu item of that displayed menu is scroll-displayed, so that even if the character string indicating a menu item does not fit into a limited display area, the user can read the entire character string from beginning to end by means of scroll display, and so recognize it.
Further yet, in the present invention a prescribed menu is displayed on a display screen, any of a plurality of menu items is selected from that displayed menu, and that selected menu item is displayed changed to a prescribed display state, thereby enabling the user to recognize the currently selected menu item easily, simply by having the user confirm the menu item for which the display state has changed.
The nature, principle and utility of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like parts are designated by like reference numerals or characters.